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Welcome 2017!

1/3/2017

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Happy New Year everyone! It has been an eventful 2016. It has been a long time since I have written anything for my blog but am looking forward to being active this new year. Thank you to those who follow my blog. I hope you had a wonderful holiday season and Happy New Year.

A new year has arrived and I have been contemplating on myself, mind and body. I know the new year is that time of the year we tend to reflect on how we can better our lives, what we would like to change and what mistakes not to make again. This last year has brought both positive and negative energy into my life. The negative can make you feel like you are losing control and your mind. It is even more difficult when dealing with a seizure disorder and coming off medications. But the suffering is what makes me stronger and more appreciative for my life. As we move forward into the new year may we create more positive energy for ourselves and others. I am looking forward to a new year of sharing with you what new approaches I am doing to better my epilepsy, food recipes, social issues that affect the people, community advocacy and much more. So please join me on this new 2017 journey and let's send positive energy to the world. Your support is greatly appreciated. Peace, blessings and prosperity.
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The Importance of Community

4/26/2016

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There are so many positive and rewarding aspects to being part of a community. Having lived here in the great Pacific Northwest for the past 8 years I feel in the last year I have reaped the benefits of being part of a wonderful community especially coming from a fast, paced city like Dallas, Texas. I have never had this until now. I find that being part of a community to be extremely beneficial to our body and mind. It creates compassion and selflessness in our hearts. Being part of a community can be many things from volunteering, attending a tai chi, qigong, meditation or yoga class, educating our communities about eating healthy and becoming active. There are endless opportunities for us to take advantage of. I have met so many wonderful and interesting people. I have also learned a lot from them and have made many wonderful friends. It has truly changed my life and my families. My husband and I will be teaching whole food plant-based classes. We get to share our stories and help educate people on the importance of eating healthy, delicious meals and how it has changed our lives. Hopefully it will inspire them. I think that everyone should try to reach out to their communities and try to make it a better community by giving what we can offer. I am looking forward to the month of June because volunteering for our Farmer's Market begins amongst other great volunteering opportunities. A healthy community is a healthy you because we're all One existence. One of my favorite quotes is "Everything for everyone, and nothing for ourselves." ("Para todos todo, para nosotros nada."). This quote comes from the EZLN (Zapatista movement in Chiapas, Mexico. This is the attitude we should have for our community and the world.

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Epilepsy & living a plant-based lifestyle

2/11/2016

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​My life changed in 2008 when I suffered a gran mal seizure with no health problems or abnormalities. It has been a long journey of suffering and hardships for both myself and my family. Going down the road of incompetent neurologists that only threw medications at my seizure disorder and dismissing my approach of medicating with cannabis and diet. Finally after 3 1\2  years of suffering and frustrations, I found a wonderful neurologist who respected the approach I wanted to take and we now work together as a team.

The road to recovery and seizure control truly began when I changed my lifestyle. I lived the typical American life of eating out, consuming too much sugar (soft drinks, candy), processed foods and very sedative life. My husband is the one who has led me down this road. He was obese weighing 350 lbs and heavily medicated on antidepressants and benzos . Then there was me, heavily medicated on anti-epileptics and benzos, losing weight and getting depressed. We watched documentaries such as Forks over Knives, Engine 2, Food Matters, Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead and many more. It inspired us so much, we said "F*** this, we want our lives back. It's time to change or we will slowly die and won't be around to enjoy our daughters and future grandchildren." So we did. We started juicing and eating plant-based. My husband lost 160+ lbs, stopped having back problems and is medication free. I came off most of my medications and am now on two meds at very low dosage. I gained back healthy weight (107 lbs being 5'1) and regained motivation for life.
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Becoming plant-based literally saved and changed our lives. What I've learned these past 3 years being plant-based, is that we can take control of our health and mental well-being. For those that suffer with epilepsy just know there is hope and you can get your life back and take control. You don't have to necessarily embrace a plant-based lifestyle, but limit consumption of meat, dairy, processed foods and refined sugars. What we eat and put in our bodies is 90% diet and 10% exercise to be healthy. These percentages are not accurate but are somewhere in this range. Take control, educate yourself and enjoy life on a whole different level. Going plant-based doesn’t mean you have to be “perfect” all the time, however I encourage everybody to make this choice and to do the best they can. 

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Whole-Food Plant Based Diet

12/5/2015

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Here is a wonderful article from Forks Over Knives to give you insight to what a whole-food plant based diet consist of.

Picture*Source of picture from Forks Over Knives
What is a Whole-Food, Plant-Based Diet?

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A whole-food, plant- based diet is centered on whole, unrefined, or minimally refined plants. It’s a diet based on fruits, vegetables, tubers, whole grains, and legumes; and it excludes or minimizes meat (including chicken and fish), dairy products, and eggs, as well as highly refined foods like bleached flour, refined sugar, and oil.
Learn more here about how to enjoy this delicious, life-saving lifestyle.

Benefits of a Whole-Food, Plant-Based Diet

A diet high in animal-based and highly processed foods makes people sick and overweight. But many of these sicknesses can be prevented, halted, and often reversed by eating a whole-food, plant-based diet. A whole-food, plant-based diet has been shown to:
  • Lower cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood sugar
  • Reverse or prevent heart disease
  • Prevent and reverse obesity
  • Lower risk of cancer and diabetes
  • Slow the progression of certain types of cancer
  • Improve symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis
  • Improve overall quality of life

Recipes pictured: 
  • Sweet Potato Lasagna
  • Lentil Soup
  • South-of-the-Border Pizza
  • Banana Pancakes

​Need more nutrition information? Learn more from our FAQs.

Sources:
US News
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Cleveland Clinic

Mayo Clinic
Kaiser Permanente
Web MD

**Article from Forks Over Knives

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Welcome to Living Kindly

10/16/2015

 
Today I started a blog to share my story and how I have been able to control and minimize my seizures with a healthy lifestyle and the continuous journey towards wellness. My blog is also a tool to share, learn and engage with others who want to achieve the goal to a healthy mind and body. I will be sharing information tools such as books, documentaries, articles, educational videos, and some of my favorite recipes. I personally believe that becoming a healthy person takes education, dedication, commitment, discipline and the willingness to challenge ourselves and step outside our comfort zone. It's easier said than done, right? This is why I feel that it is very important to have a community that is willing to help each other achieve our goals through sharing the knowledge we share for a healthy and happy lifestyle. It is very difficult in this western culture we live in to care for ourselves the way that we should whether it be what we feed our body and mind, how we view ourselves both physically and mentally along with the many other issues that come along with living in a very live fast, die young, selfish and narcissistic culture. I hope that together we can make a difference in our lives and create a compassionate oneness. Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog. Have a wonderful day!

    

    Hi! I'm Margarita. Welcome to Living Kindly.

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